In perhaps the sickest incident, an elementary public school coach in Marietta, Georgia drove students around the area in his pickup truck instructing them to thrash Christmas displays after dark; they also created obscene displays with some of the adorning statues.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) Two separate Eugene families whose nativity scenes were desecrated this week when a vandal replaced the baby Jesus figure with severed pigs' heads say they were targeted because of their religious faith.

The culprits left other, more secular decorations untouched and focused only on the families' religious displays.

"To me, they definitely wanted to make a religious statement," said David Stahl of Eugene, who discovered a pig head in his front yard Thursday. "This takes definite thought and too much anger."